Fears Jeremy Corbyn could backtrack on People’s Vote promises in snap general election

PUBLISHED: 11:07 04 August 2019 | UPDATED: 11:07 04 August 2019

Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn. Picture: Leon Neal/Getty Images.

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The Mail on Sunday reports that the prospect of a general election in the autumn has Labour panicking about the party's position on Brexit, fearing that a pro-Remain message could damage its chances in the north.

It is now feared that rather than Labour taking a side on Brexit in a general election manifesto, it could return to its "constructive ambiguity" position in a bid to try to keep support in Remain and Leave areas.

One Labour source told the newspaper: "They think they've just gone too far to appease the Southern-based Remainers in the party while we can't compete with the Lib Dems as an avowedly anti-Brexit party. Corbyn can't exactly reverse the pledge to back a second referendum if we're still in opposition but he could send a much more Brexit-friendly message of how Labour in government would honour the 2016 referendum result by making sure we left."

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But any attempts to revert back from the new rhetoric is likely to anger second referendum supporters in the shadow cabinet including Emily Thornberry and Sir Keir Starmer.

At the Brecon and Radnorshire by-election Labour performed poorly, with the Liberal Democrats appearing to be the main opposition to the Conservatives.

But Jeremy Corbyn dismissed the result: "The Liberal Democrats won it after doing a deal with Plaid Cymru and the Greens.

"I think that a lot of voters were determined to get rid of the Conservatives and they voted accordingly. So we were squeezed, but it's a place we have not held for a very long time. The area has changed a bit."

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